Stamkos talks getting Predators over the hump, Kucherov

Welcome to the NHL Chat Room, NHL.com's weekly Q&A feature where we talk to key figures in the game, gaining insight into their lives on and off the ice. This week, we feature Steven Stamkos, the Nashville Predators forward, two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Tampa Bay Lightning, and formerly their all-time leading scorer, passed by Nikita Kucherov on Oct. 24. Of note, this interview took place before the reports about Nikita Kucherov’s trade request, but Stamkos was asked about his former Lightning teammate. Those questions and his answers can be found below.

Steven Stamkos is still getting it done at 36 years old.

In his 18th NHL season, Stamkos, the Nashville Predators forward, has 15 points (seven goals, eight assists) in 13 games this season going into a game against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; CARNHL, HHN, SCRIPPS), giving him 1,271 points, including 631 goals, in 1,260 career games.

Stamkos was the Tampa Bay Lightning's all-time scoring leader with 1,137 points until Nikita Kucherov passed him on Oct. 24. Now he's in his third season with the Predators and is their leading scorer with the hope of leading Nashville back to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Predators missed the postseason in each of Stamkos' first two seasons.

"It's just we have had some issues in terms of whether it's consistency or keeping the puck out of our net the last couple of years," Stamkos said. "It just hasn't been consistent enough for us to be a legitimate playoff contender."

Stamkos talked with NHL.com about how the Predators can change that this season along with his thoughts on Kucherov, what it's like for him to play against the Lightning, his own motivation in Nashville, changes he's witnessed in the NHL across his nearly two-decade career, and the potential of one day going into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

You're still going strong in Nashville. What's the motivation for you now? What keeps you going?

"Well, I don't think there's really one thing; I'm doing the same thing I've always done in terms of preparing for the season, working as hard as I can in the summer. Obviously, as you get older it gets a little harder for sure. The first year here was obviously really tough and the beginning of last year it just kind of felt like it was happening all over again. It just got to a point where it was like, 'OK, I need to figure this thing out here.' I did. 

"I think it takes some time when you get to a new team and playing with new players and new systems, as much as you want it to click right away it does take some time. We made some changes and things started clicking, and then you get that confidence back of knowing that you can be the player you can be, and you're definitely more comfortable in your surroundings too. That was a difficult part as well; being in one place for so long, you're the captain there, you're just used to so many things happening second nature, and then it's all new. It's not like I've changed anything, it's just I'm comfortable in my surroundings now and I'm trying to be the player and person that I know I can be. Obviously, having a big opportunity to be a guy that's counted on every night, it's something that I love."

Last year, when it started slowly, there was talk about trade. Would they trade you? What would they get in return for you? That was out there. Did you hear any of that? Did it take you aback a bit? What did you think?

"I mean, of course you hear it, but when you have a no-move clause and things like that obviously I don't think it hits you as hard if they talk about trading you and you don't have any protection. So, I didn't really stress over it, but it kind of goes with the territory. Obviously, I didn't start the year well last year and the team didn't start well. We've underperformed in terms of what the expectation was two summers ago. I think everyone on our team hears that stuff, but you can control what you can control and that's just the mindset that I had, just keep going, keep grinding away and don't change anything because I know I can be a certain type of player in this league. Sometimes it just doesn't go well for whatever reason, but I think it was a moment that I just needed to get through. I was able to do that, and you just don't look back."

You've seen a lot of changes in the league since you started in 2008. What is the biggest adjustment you've had to make to remain as a top player in the NHL, to have that staying power?

"This is going back to (my) younger days in the league when I was with Marty, it was always trying to keep up and kind of reinvent your game year after year. We're talking even 15 to 16 years ago, that's what he was talking about. Obviously, the game is played a little different in terms of the speed of the players, the skill of the players, but I really haven't consciously changed anything to I guess quote-unquote keep up with the times. At the end of the day, hockey IQ always prevails. I'm not saying I have the greatest hockey IQ, but I feel like I have a good head for the game, offensively where to be and where not to be. I think those things should never change and that's why you've seen a lot of older guys have success in the league no matter their age, no matter if they've lost a step. 

"The game shouldn't change in terms of where the goals are scored, where the passes are made, where the setup on the power play is. Yeah, for sure, guys have gotten a lot faster and these young guys come up and they're so skilled. That's definitely changed. But the basics of the game should never change. If you can figure those out then usually you can have prolonged success."

What do the Predators need to get over the top, to play like a championship-quality team? What is the missing ingredient that you haven't found yet?

"Yeah, I mean, that's a tough question. Yeah, I've played on some really good teams in Tampa, some really good players that have played together for a long time. Sometimes it clicks, sometimes it doesn't. For whatever reason it didn't click here the way we thought it would in terms of the big offseason with (Jonathan) Marchessault, (Brady) Skjei and myself signing there and everyone thinking that's an instant contender. I don't think it's a secret that Nashville has been looking for that other centerman to help (Ryan) O'Reilly. I don't think it's been a secret that (general manager) Chris MacFarland is trying to bolster the blue line. There are no secrets there. You look at our roster and they've made a decision that it probably needs to get a little younger in certain areas and Chris has addressed that already a little bit. 

"I mean, there's no magic wand, no one player you bring in and it's like now all of a sudden, we're a Stanley Cup contender. You have to play a certain way, have chemistry and the skillset. It takes so much to change something. There are no quick fixes in the NHL. I don't think I have a legitimate this-is-the-answer type of answer for the question. It's not for lack of effort. It's not for lack of trying our best to perform every night."

You recently played against the Lightning. Is it still weird for you to play against them, or are you over that now?

"Yeah, I think each and every time that passes that weirdness wears off a little bit, especially when you look over there and there's probably more guys that I didn't play with than I did. I think the first year obviously was pretty difficult in terms of that, but we play each other in the preseason too, so it's not as weird for sure as it was the first year. I wouldn't say it'll ever be normal just because of how long I was there, but it's as normal as it's been."

What did you see from Nikita Kucherov early on that maybe clicked with you to think that this guy is different, he's special?

"The crazy thing with 'Kuch' is no one really knew about him when he first came over. He was a second-round pick, not a lot of hype or fanfare around him. So, I don't think we really expected much. He came in and you're immediately like, 'OK, this guy has got some skill.' He played a little bit in the minors, came up, played, didn't have out-of-this-world numbers, so if you would have asked any of us back then if we thought he would be what he is now, I don't think anyone would have said yes. But as his confidence grew, his role on the team grew, you just saw a player blossom right in front of your eyes. All of a sudden, you're like, 'Wow, Kuch just had 70 points this year.' And then it was, 'Wow, Kuch had 85 or 90 points.' The next year it's like, 'Geez, he just had 110 points.' Now he's one of the top five, top 10 players in the League and it just all happened organically. 

"Like I said, there was no huge fanfare with him when he came over, but what you saw on a day-to-day basis back then was a young kid that was eager to learn, eager to be part of the group and just wanted to work on his craft. Then you could see the skill start to come out with the confidence, and you saw the elite hockey IQ and the playmaking that he has. 

"He's a perfectionist in terms of his craft and wanting to continue to get better every year. It just became an obsession for him. I don't know exactly when it was that he started pretty much skating every day in the summer but it has to be at least seven or eight years ago now. That's when we were like, 'OK, he's different.' That's what made him so great."

I think "obsession" is a good word for him, and not in a negative way. Hockey is his passion. He is obsessed with the game. Can you describe what you saw from that obsession? What those training sessions are like?

"It's just someone that is never satisfied. If you don't really know Kuch, sometimes that doesn't come across the best way because we could win a game, he could have two or three points, and it still doesn't look like he's happy. It's just because he expects so much of himself and of his teammates, and just wants success so bad that sometimes it comes across that way. But if you really know Kuch, we'd always joke with him that he'd have three or four points and he wouldn't even crack a smile. It's crazy. Guys would give up a lot of things to have one point in a game in the NHL, but you never really saw the excitement or the joy that you thought until we got into some of those big games in the playoffs and then you win the Stanley Cup and you could just see this weight off his shoulders, like all the work he's put into it, his vision that he had, has come true.

"But then again there is another story, after we won the second Cup in Tampa, a bunch of guys came over to my house after, it was like 3 or 4 in the morning, we had the Stanley Cup, and he was talking about McDavid and MacKinnon, and he thought they were in this like huge tier above him and he wanted to get into that tier. That's what he was talking about after just winning the Stanley Cup and putting up 30 or whatever points in the playoffs. But that just goes to show the mindset that he has, obviously obsessed in a good way. He wants to work on his craft so bad. 

"The thing with him too is he thinks everyone should have that work ethic. If there is a player on the team that is struggling with making a pass or making a play he's like, 'Well, why aren't they working on the ice two hours every day like I am?' That pushes you as a player too when you see the best player putting in that work, you want to do it too. I see it like Marty St. Louis used to tell me that seeing me as a young player it invigorated him a little bit and he wanted to, quote-unquote, keep up with the younger guys in the league. That's kind of how I felt with Kuch too. I saw Kuch come in and you see this work he's putting in and it inspires you. You're like, 'Wow, that's unbelievable.' Like, you think you work hard and you see a guy that's doing that every day in the summer, 10 days after you lose out in the playoffs he's back on the ice for two hours a day, it's pretty remarkable. When I was there with him, I wanted to be a part of that and did as much as I could."

The Hall of Fame induction is coming up. I'm not sending you out of this League yet, but let's be fair, you're 36, you've been around a long time, you've got over 600 goals, over 1,200 points, two Stanley Cup championship rings. All things being equal, you're going to get that call from the Hall of Fame one day. And now you see Pekka Rinne going in, Patrice Bergeron going in, Carey Price, guys that you played with and against. Is that anything that ever crosses your mind, getting your Hall call?

"I'm not going to sit here and lie and tell you I've never thought about that. Of course, you hear about that and guys will make a comment here and there about it. You get asked about it sometimes. So, I can't say I've never thought about it, but it's not something that I'm going to bed every night thinking about. It's just something that, yeah, do I sense that the end of my career is around the corner in terms of how many years I have left? For sure. When you get to the point of your career where you're closer to the end than the beginning and yeah, you have those thoughts, but I definitely don't think about the Hall of Fame per se. It's one of the greatest honors you could ever have as a player and it's not something in your wildest dreams as a kid that you think is attainable. But it's certainly not something I'm thinking about now. You have lots of time to reflect on that when you're done. 

"I am starting to see a lot of guys I played against going into the Hall of Fame. I'm starting to see some former teammates of mine that are now head coaches in the NHL. You know, I just saw Ryan Craig in Vegas. He was my first roommate in Tampa. Those stop you in your tracks and you realize you've been around the League a long time when some of your buddies are now coaches. 

"But I still enjoy it, I still love it. I've got three kids now, two boys that are 7 and soon to be 5 that love hockey and love coming to the games and love grilling me about my performance and our team's performance. They're into it and that's a pretty cool feeling when they understand the game and they're watching NHL Network in the morning while they're having their bowl of cereal. It brings me back to when I was that age. They love it and it motivates me for sure that they're around and they enjoy it as much as they do. I want to keep going at a certain level so they can see because when you think about it, their hockey memory of me will be more now than it was when we were in Tampa because of how young they are. When you think about it like that, it motivates me for sure."